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You hear me, boys? If there's trouble because of this, that's your problem, not mine and not Mr. Hernandez's."
    "Thank you," Tanner said quietly. He folded the telegram back into his inside pocket. There was no reason to keep it, but he did and he read it over and over.
    "We've got seventy-one days," Fox said, squinting into the sun. "With luck, we can make Denver with a little time to spare. Depends on how things go."
    "Are your parents alive?" Tanner asked, curious as to why she had capitulated so easily.
    "Both dead. A long time ago." She glanced toward Peaches who was mounted and waiting. "Me and Peaches will lead the trains for the first few days while you boys get used to the saddle, then we'll trade off. We'll make it a short day today, only go as far as Gold Canyon. It'll take a while to establish a routine for setting up camp."
    After Hanratty and Brown finished moving the money mule to the middle of the train, Fox stood beside it, eyeing the tarp.
    "You really believe outlaws will follow us?" Tanner asked, swinging up on the big bay. He made sure his bedroll was tied down, checked his canteen and rifle scabbard.
    "Oh yeah." Shifting, she narrowed her gaze on Hanratty and Brown, watching them step into their saddles. "That gold is going to be trouble. How well do you know your guards?"
    "I trust them," he said coolly.
    "Well, then." Fox gave him a nod before she swung up on her mustang. After adjusting the rope trailing back to the three mules she would lead, she touched her heels to the mustang's flanks. "Let's go."
    It didn't surprise Tanner that she sat a horse like she'd been born in a saddle or that she made leading a mule train look easy. It did surprise him though to admit how much he trusted this small angry woman. He glanced ahead at the red and gold braid dropping down the back of her shapeless poncho. He'd be following that flaming braid for over a thousand miles.
    He just hoped to God that she was right when she said she could get him to Denver before May first.
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CHAPTER 3

     
    Fox set a moderate but steady pace. She'd promised Tanner short days until he and his guards grew accustomed to all day in the saddle, but in truth it had also been a while since Fox or Peaches had spent eight or ten hours on a horse. She suspected she'd feel the effects before they stopped for the night, but right now she experienced the exhilaration of getting under way.
    Starting out was the best part of any journey. At this point the company was pleasant and cordial, men and animals were whole and healthy, anticipation and optimism wafted on the breeze. Anything could happen in the weeks ahead, good or bad.
    But packing gold fell on the bad side, Fox thought, frowning. Every few minutes she battled an urge to look over her shoulder and make sure the money mule hadn't bolted or been stolen.
    "Could be that nothing bad will happen," Peaches suggested when they stopped beside the river for a late lunch. Cupping his hands around a coffee mug, he glanced toward a clump of bare cottonwoods where Tanner and his men were eating bread and cheese and talking. "You're thinking everyone out there knows about the gold and is busy figuring out how to steal it." When Fox nodded glumly, he smiled. "Now me, I share Mr. Tanner's opinion. I'm thinking that bank teller, and the hotel manager, and whoever else, is honest and upright and has already forgotten about the gold."
    "Right. Just what we need, more fricking optimism." Fox rolled her eyes like she did when he started seeing roses among the weeds. "How are you doing?" she asked after a minute, pulling her gaze away from Matthew Tanner. Tanner's tall figure and commanding stance drew her attention like a magnet. Which irritated the hell out of her. "Holding up all right? I can tell one of the guards to lead the second train if your shoulder is bothering you. And it seems to me you're coughing a lot."
    "Now, Missy, are you going to be fussing over me during this whole trip?" His eyes